BCIU hears presentation on extensive STEM program

It's funded through a $494,368 PAsmart grant.

Written by Keith Dmochowski

Muhlenberg Township, PA —

The Berks County Intermediate Unit's board heard a presentation Thursday about the recently unveiled Eastern Pennsylvania Innovation Catalyst Network, a joint effort to elevate the quality of science, technology, engineering and math education across the county's 18 school districts.

The EPIC program is funded through a $494,368 award from Governor Tom Wolf's PAsmart initiative, which set aside $20 million to advance STEM education and offer relevant training to teachers, said Charlie Trovato, program administrator with BCIU's office of professional development and curriculum.

A partnership between BCIU and the Kutztown Area School District, EPIC aims to establish innovative methods of STEM education, while working to overcome inequity among school districts.

“We're really trying to make sure that we're targeting the almost 51 percent of students in county that are classified as economically disadvantaged,” Trovato said.

To meet these objectives, Trovato said that EPIC looks to divide its resources across four projects.

The first involves installing two STEM resource libraries — one at BCIU's campus and another at in the Kutztown School District — which will lend “state of the art computer science and STEM equipment” to districts throughout the region.

EPIC will also redesign existing space in both locations into “catalyst spaces,” offering teachers “immersive professional development” via training on the use and classroom implementation of STEM equipment.

Another goal is to train 18 “master” STEM instructors — one from each district — and train them to offer half-day coaching sessions to over 600 computer science and STEM teachers countywide. Those 18 experts will receive certification from the University of Pennsylvania's Experiences in Applied Computational Thinking program, Trovato said.

“Our master teachers will be trained by UPenn professors to really get them to understand computational thinking, which is the background of quality computer science education,” Trovato said.

Dr. Jill Hackman, BCIU executive director, noted that there are 18,000 unfilled jobs in the computer science field in Pennsylvania.

In other business at the BCIU meeting, the board voiced support for state legislation that would require families to pay tuition for children attending cyber charter schools while living in districts that offer similar online programs. Senate Bill 34, introduced by Sen. Judy Schwank, a Ruscombmanor Township Democrat, requires families to pay cyber charter tuition if their home district offers cyber programs “equal in scope and content.”

Hackman said Rep. Curtis Sonney, an Erie Republican, is seeking support for a similar bill, House Bill 526, which would require parents to cover cyber charter costs if the district already operates a full-time cyber program.

Hackman said a survey by the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators found that on average, districts pay about $11,000 per student, and almost $25,000 for special education students attending cyber charter schools.

District-operated cyber programs cost an average of $5,000 or less per student, Hackman said.

“If this legislation goes through, it would obviously have a dramatic effect on all of your budgets and how much you're paying on cyber charter,” Daniel Richards, director of BCIU's office of professional development and curriculum, told the board.

Hackman said that BCIU will be sending letters supporting the legislation to Sen. Schwank and Rep. Sonney.